Political Repertoires Research Articles

Transcending Race? Schoolteachers and Political Militancy in Andean Peru, 1970–2000

AbstractUsing accounts by militant schoolteachers from a province in the central sierra of Peru, this article attempts to show how and why concepts of race and political commitment among teachers changed at three critical moments in Peruvian history: agrarian reform, mass unionisation, and Maoist insurgency. The article explores how binary representations of race as mestizo or Indian, mestizo or cholo, were both formed and challenged by the everyday experience of teachers as well as their political action. Their reactions to, and negotiation of, racial ascription are framed within three fields of power: racialised social identities, processes of state formation, and opportunities and repertoire of contestatory politics.

Tibetan Buddhists in the Making of Modern China. By Gray Tuttle

In Tibetan Buddhists in the Making of Modern China, Gray Tuttle approaches the issue of the relationship between China and Tibet from two innovative perspectives. First, relying on both Tibetan and Chinese sources, he focuses on the interaction between Chinese governments (from the Qing to the end of the republican period) and Tibet rather than on the theme of independence. By shifting the focus from oppression and resistance, he offers a view of Sino-Tibetan interactions that highlights goals pursued and strategies deployed by the two parties in negotiating terms of coexistence in the changing regional context of the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries. Second, Tuttle widens the debate on the relationship between China and Tibet by inserting it into the broader framework of China's modern nation building. Because of this approach, Tuttle is able to illustrate the process that brought the Chinese collective imagination to perceive Tibet—until the 1920s still largely unknown and irrelevant to most Chinese—as a vital part of the new modern nation. He is also able to throw light on the historical memories, political repertoires, and personal experiences that informed Tibetan elites' attitudes toward the newly established Communist regime in the early 1950s. As Tuttle explains, opening the discussion of the Tibetan problem to wider historical themes should not be seen as an attempt to justify “in any way … what happened to Tibet since 1950” (221). His goal is to deepen our understanding of the complexity of the problem, which is often discussed by the general public in terms that are, in Tuttle's words, “overly simplistic” (221).

Taming the Dalit Panthers

Although Dalit orators and slogans threaten (or promise) to ‘turn Tamil Nadu on its head’, the 2006 state elections offer Dalit analysts pause for thought. In compromising its principles and allying with established parties, the Dalit Panther Iyyakkam (Movement), the largest Dalit movement in the state, has come full circle since 1999. In alternately backing the two dominant parties in the state (the DMK and the AIADMK), the DPI appears to be increasingly institutionalised. Excavating the future of Dalit action from past trends and contemporary politics, I suggest that Dalit parties are following an established political repertoire in which a phase of militant activism gives way to ‘politics as normal’. In the face of this analysis the paper asks whether such an approach is sustainable or can carry the majority of Dalits with it. If Dalit politics is a continuation of hegemonic politics, it argues, the liberatory promises of Dalit activism will have been betrayed.

India's Narmada dams controversy

What sources will contemporary historians use when they reflect on resistance to globalisation by regional and environmental groups such as India's NBA (Narmada Bachao Andolan or 'Save the Narmada Movement')? As the country is the world's third most important dam builder, consistent mass protest against construction of the 3,200 Narmada dams in this enormous river valley over almost 20 years must surely merit further study. Campaigners seem to have developed a sense of history, but how do some of their most well-known international works of communication conform to existing models of media advocacy? This article assesses the nature of two documentary films - Anand Patwardhan's (with Simantini Dhuru) A Narmada Diary (1997) and Fanny Armstrong's Drowned Out (2004) - and the writings of Arundhati Roy, all emanating from the Narmada Dams controversy. As works of advocacy, these media communications popularised the Narmada conflict internationally, and in the process also championed fresh styles of communication. These three works represent interdisciplinary examples which, through their narratives and styles, have brought an extended creative and political repertoire of 'engaged' journalism on development issues to mainstream outlets outside of India. These examples allow us to test the continuing relevance of certain aspects of counter-hegemonic discourses, as presented in existing academic work.

Mitos, paradojas y realidades en la Argentina peronista (1946–1955): Una interpretación histórica de sus decisiones políticas-económicas

Mitos, paradojas y realidades en la Argentina peronista (1946–1955): Una interpretación histórica de sus decisiones políticas-económicas

Theater and Politics in Four Film Versions of the "Quijote"

Depending on the film and the actor, Don Quijote can be a madman or a leading man. The actor's ideology is intimately related to the director's part. In adapting the Quijote to the screen, scriptwriters and film directors, such as Orson Welles, Arthur Hiller, G. W. Pabst and Grigory Kosintsev have added elements from their own artistic and political repertoires, especially in the treatment of theatricality, the characterization of Don Quijote and Sancho, and the many references to the Spanish Inquisition. The four film versions under analysis have two things in common: they exploit theatricality and role-play, whose appeal to filmmakers and scriptwriters is natural, and political themes, which are inspired by the novel but some times beg explanation.

Sustainable policy? A public debate about nature development in the Netherlands

This article makes, first, a general argument for ‘sustainable policies.’ This argument will build on the observation that modern societies, of all political guise, find it difficult to cope with the challenges and opportunities posed by science and technology. Classical models of democracy do not seem to be sufficiently equipped to guide the political process in our highly developed societies. Second, this paper will discuss constructivist views on the development of technology in relation to society, and explore possible implications for democratization of technological culture. And finally, the article will present a particular case of experimentation with one alternative form of democracy. This experimental addendum to the existing political repertoires in the Netherlands was a public debate about the issue of ‘nature development’ or ‘nature construction’—the making of new nature, for example by giving back some of the Dutch land to the water of the rivers Rhein and Maas.

Breaking the Bank & Taking to the Streets: How Protesters Target Neoliberalism

This paper analyses a set of 467 local protests that took place against neoliberalism on 5 global days of action between 1998 and 2001 and ?nds that the targets of protest di?er on each continent. The majority target either the global institutions of neoliberalism, such as the IMF, World Bank, World Trade Organization or the Group of 8, or neglect to identify a single institutional target. However, the most popular local target in Africa and Asia is national or local government. In Latin America protests are most likely to target banks or stock exchanges, and in the US, Canada and Europe, corporations. The sources of such variation lie in pre-existing political repertoires, transnational organizational networks, and processes of structural equivalence that underlie di?usion patterns.

From Urban Entrepreneurialism to a “Revanchist City”? On the Spatial Injustices of Glasgow’s Renaissance

Recent perspectives on the American city have highlighted the extent to which the economic and sociospatial contradictions generated by two decades of “actually existing” neoliberal urbanism appear to demand an increasingly punitive or “revanchist” political response. At the same time, it is increasingly being acknowledged that, after embracing much of the entrepreneurial ethos, European cities are also confronting sharpening inequalities and entrenched social exclusion. Drawing on evidence from Glasgow, the paper assesses the dialectical relations between urban entrepreneurialism, its escalating contradictions, and the growing compulsion to meet these with a selective appropriation of the revanchist political repertoire.

Consolidation through institutionalisation? Dilemmas of the Spanish environmental movement in the 1990s

Opportunities offered by the political context have decisively influenced the evolution of the Spanish environmental movement, in relation to both changes in its political tactics and strategies and the consolidation of its organisational base. The configuration of diverse environmental policy arenas has facilitated access of environmental movement organisations (EMOs) to the decision‐making sphere. Consequently, conventional forms of participation have gained relevance within the political repertoire of EMOs which have increased their level of activities, coordination and expertise. Entering the polity has not been a linear process; rather, it has been marked by fluctuations due to the limited institutionalisation of the environment and the often‐politicised nature of environmental policy‐making processes. The process by which movements have been consolidated has also been shaped by their limited growth and ideologies. As well as providing an account of the development of environmental movements in Spain the study attempts to contribute to a general understanding of the link between political context and the activities and organisational dynamics of environmental movements.

The Green Rainbow: Environmental Groups in Western Europe.

Part 1 Introduction: Environmentalism and Social Movement Theory. Part 2 Movements in Context: The Evolution of Environmentalism Europeans and Environmentalism. Part 3 Environmental Organizations: The Organization of Environmentalism Environmental Elites. Part 4 Political Repertoires: Defining the Agenda Alliance Patterns and Environmental Networks Patterns of Action Political Parties and Environmentalism. Part 5 Conclusion: Environmental Poltics and Advanced Industrial Democracies.

The generalized action potential of protest movements: The new class, social trends, and political exclusion explanations

Three explanations have been advanced to account for the generalized action potential of contemporary protest movements: the rise of the new class, a set of general social trends that cumulatively lead to liberalized social values and loosened social restraints against protest, and the mobilization of excluded groups. Analyzing three dimensions of generalized action potential—protest potential, political action repertoires, and protest movement support—we find support for all three explanations. Educated salaried professionals, especially sociocultural and public sector professionals, display greater protest potential, especially for civil disobedience, and are supportive of emerging “middle class” movements. A set of general social trends centering on increased education, life-cycle and generational change, secularism, and increased women's autonomy also create greater action potential. Reflecting mobilization against political exclusion, African Americans display a consistently strong generalized action potential. These protests reflect the rise of new political repertoires, particularly “protest activism,” which combines protest with high levels of conventional participation and is centered among the more educated.

THE CRISIS OF THE MOVEMENTS: THE ENABLING STATE AS QUISLING

The basic argument of this paper is that the anti‐systemic movements political successes over the last century have turned out to be medium‐term cul de sacs at the expense of the real longue duree purposes of the movements. The discovery of the enabling state by radicals towards the end of the nineteenth century has resulted in a Quisling in the anti‐systemic ranks. This argument brings to the fore the anarchist critique which never accepted the enabling state as a legitimate part of the radical political repertoire. Nevertheless this essay is not a plea for a return to anarchist roots but rather attempts to reinsert anarchism, and feminism, into a single framework of anti‐systemic movements alongside socialism and nationalism. As the state is being shown to be disenabling rather than enabling across the various zones of the world‐economy it is argued that anarchist ideas deserve some priority as we revise radical political strategies.

Neighborhood Associations, Political Repertoires and Neighborhood Exits

The ways in which residents can respond to neighborhood problems are well understood. Residents can act politically, move or stay put and remain inactive. Less understood are the temporal and empirical relationships between these different strategies. Social scientists and policy makers currently believe, with little empirical evidence, that the decision to move from the community is a function of one's political experiences and involvement in institutions that resolve conflicts. Using survey data collected in Seattle, Washington during the late 1970s, the empirical results are initially more consistent with this view for residential mobility than thoughts about moving. Subsequent analysis reveals that the results for residential mobility are questionable as well. Mobility is also related to perceptions about specific sets of issues in the community, including neighborhood decline and service delivery.

Film: The Art Form of Late Capitalism

History is not and can never become a seamless narrative. Historical narrative becomes myth when it performs the function of representing society to itself as forgetting and makes present only the surfaces of the material practices that constitute history, recuperating the past for the present. If we view film as ontology rather than representation we can understand how filmic images have shaped our beliefs about the history of the Bolshevik revolution more than the writings of John Reed, Lenin, and Trotsky. The task of the filmmaker, according to Sergei Eisenstein, is to involve the spectator in the process of creating the film. For Eisenstein montage (the creation of a new image from two partial representations) solves the problem of making the physical reality palpable without reproducing it. The filmmaker makes the viewer experience the emergence and assemblage of the image. By revealing the process as much as the result of the creation of film image, the filmmaker literally produces a new reality rather than merely representing it. Eisenstein and the various schools of Soviet filmmakers strove to achieve a synchronization of the senses through the film such that all the elements of perception are woven into whole cloth. For Eisenstein, Vertov, and other filmmakers of the Bolshevik revolution, the task was not to make a report about social reality, but to produce it: consequently, in the actual method of creating images, a work of art must reproduce the process whereby, in life itself, new images are built up in the human consciousness and feelings. I Thus, the international cultural function of the glorious years of Soviet art has been to structure our remembrance of the past. For us Eisenstein's October is the Russian revolution not a representation of it, not a report. Its power to evoke a nostalgia for that which was never present to us yet is part of our political repertoire just as Griffith's Birth of a Nation constitutes itself not only in films like Gone with the Wind but in the whole political repertoire of the right-wing. It is only by deconstructing these films that the structure of desire can be revealed and the desiring machine, to borrow a phrase from Deleuze and Guattari, that records and actually creates a mediated reality be surpassed. The real question raised by the political films of the revolution and counterrevolution is the question about the status of film as an object-form of which the entire repertoire of human emotions is the subject-form.